Pulling attachment for vehicles.



5. L. ZANE. Y PULLING ATTACHMENT FOR-VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1916.

1 ,21 9,209 Patented Mar. 13,,1917.

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PULLING ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

' APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12. 1916.

Patented Mar. 13', 1917.

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ll In E. L. ZANE.

PULLING ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION men AUG. 12. 1916.

1,219,209. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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mm mp UNIT D STATES PATENT- OFFICE. i

EDMUND LOUGHBOROUGH ZANE, OFTHEUNITED STATES ARMY.

PULLINQATTACHME'NT FOR VEHICLES.

S1 219,209 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dian 191'7 Application filed August 12, 1916. Serial No. 114,599.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDMUND L. ZANE, a citizen vof the United States, stationed at Fort Bliss, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pulling Attachments for Vehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in pulling attachments for vehicles in which a.winch is-mounted in operative relation to the vehicle motor, and arranged to be driven therefrom to wind up a cable attached to a dead man for pulling the vehicle out of a stalled position, such as a bog,or slippery surface affording little or no traction, or up a steep incline, or the like.

I am aware that devices intended to accomplish a similar purpose have been here tofore proposed, but to my knowledge such devices have not been put into extensive use,

for the reason as I understand that such u I, 0 1 prior dev ces are complex in construction,

. impose great additional weight on .the vehitachment which will be simple in construction,'and readily placed in operation when the vehicle becomes stalled.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter'disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, and in which similar reference symbols indicate corresponding parts in the several views-z Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the chassis of an automobile, partly in section, and illustrating as applied thereto an attachment constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 22 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 3 is a similar view taken on the line 33 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44-in Fig. 5. I V.

, Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5'5 in Fig. 2; and l Fig. 6 is a plan view of the guide. plate.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates generally a vehicle on which is installed a motor 2 and transmission gear, of any suitable character, contained in a casing 3,, andunder operation of the usual control lever 4.

At one side of'the transmission casing 3 is shown, in Fig. 1, a drum 5 about which is wound-a cable 6,.drawn out beyond the front of the vehicle l, where it is adapted to be attached to'a stump or dead man. The drum 5 is loosely mounted over a drum shaft 7 journaled at one end in the transmission casmg 3 and at its oppositeend 1n the vehicle framework. The drum is formed with a half-clutch 8 disposed opposite'a, complemental half-clutch 9, keyed to rotate with the'shaft 7 and to slidelongitudinally theremission casing 3, where it is provided with a worm wheel 13 in continuous mesh w1th a I The worm] worm 14 on a winch shaft 15. wheel 13, worm 14, and winch shaft 15-are contained wholly within the transmission casing 3, the latter being journaled to rotate therein and having a gear 16 fitted to rotate therewith and slide axially therealong.

As clearlyshown in Fig. 3, the gear16 is adapted to be shifted into mesh with one of the gears 17 on the countershaft 18, when it is desired to drive the drum 5.

'At 19, in Fig. 4, is shown the engine shaft, which is coupled to drive a countershaft 18 through the gears'2O and 21, the gear 20 being formed with a half-clutch 22 for engagement with a complemental half-clutch 23 on a shifting gear 241 fitted over the transmis there are a variet and one form of which is illustrated in the drawings. This mechanism consists in shifting rods 30, 31 and 32 having forks 33, 34 and 35 connected respectively to the gears 16, 24 and 27. With the forks 33, 34 and 35 are associated claws 36, 37 and 38 arranged to be engaged by a stem 39 projecting below the fulcrum of the control lever 4. Such stem 39 operates in the usual H-plate 40.

In operation, the control lever 4 normally occupies the transverse slot 41 in the guide plate 40, which corresponds to the neutral position of the transmission gears. In well known manner this control lever 4 may be shifted into the longitudinal slots 42 and 43 to obtain the three speeds forward and the reverse movement.

When, however, after the vehicle has become stalled in a place which affords little or no traction, and the cable 6 has been pulled out beneath the vehiole in the manner shown in Fig. 1 and attached to a stump or dead man, by swinging the lever 4 into the L-shaped slot 44 in the guide plate 40 the stem 39 will be engaged withthe claw 36 and the shifting rod 30, together with the fork 33, moved to engage the gear 16 with its complement 17 on the countershaft 18.

The clutch 8, 9, having been coupled by operation of the foot pedal 12, and the m0- tor 2 being in operation, it will be seen that the drum 5 will be rotated to wind up the cable 6, and consequently draw the vehicle 1 toward the dead man and out of the stalled position.

According to my improved device the motor 2 is allowed to run free of the vehicle while operating the drum 5, so that the engine will not be choked in case the vehicle wheels are so firmly rooted as to resist turning. The arrangement of the gearing is preferably such as to obtain a highly multiplied eifect on the drum 5, so as .to secure the maximum power of the engine for the drawing operation.

It will be appreciated that the control of the attachment is derived from the usual transmission lever 4, and that the operation therefor is essentially no difierentand involves no unusual operation than attends the usual control of an automobile.

Itis obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and there fore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

I' claim:

1. In an improved attachment of the character described, the combination of a trans mission mechanism embodying shiftable gears, a lever for throwing the transmission gears, an H-plate for guiding said lever in moving to throw in the difierent speeds,

said plate having an additional L-slot" therein communicating with the H=slot, an additional claw for engagement by said lever when swung into said L-slot, a fork movable with said claw, a gear element slidably mounted and shiftable through said fork into and out of engagement with one of the transmission gears, a drum in operative re'- -mechan1sm and adapted to be engaged by said lever when swung to one position, a

fork movable with said claw, a slidable gear.

element movable with said fork into and out of engagement with one of the transmission gears, a drum in operative relation to be driven from said gear element when the latter is shifted into engagement with one of the transmission gears, and a cable adapted to be wound on said drum and fixed to an object for drawing the vehicle out of a stalled position, substantially as described.

3. In an attachment of the character described, the combination with a vehicle having a power source, a transmission mechanism for said vehicle embodying shiftable gears, a lever for shifting said transmission gears, a guide plate having communicating slots therein for receiving a part of the lever when moved to control the several speeds, said guide plate having an additional communicating slot therein for receiving a part of the transmission lever, a gear element shiftable into and out of engagement with one of the transmission gears, means connecting said gear element in position to be engaged and shifted by said transmission lever when moved into the additional slot in said guide plate, a drum, a shaft for said drum, gear connections between said drum .shaft and shiftable gear element for rotat ing the drum, and a cable wound about said drum and adapted to be attached to a fixed object for drawing the vehicle out of a stalled position, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an automobile having the usual transmission gearing contained .in the usual transmission casing, and the usual lever for throwing the transmission gears, of an attachment mounted on said vehicle and including a drum shaft journaled in the vehicle frame and extending into said transmission casing, a drum loosely' mounted over said shaft on the exterior of said transmission casing, a clutch for connecting said drum to said drum shaft, a cable adapted to be wound about said drum and arranged to have its ends attached to some fixed object for drawing the vehicle out of a stalled position when the cable is Wound up, a Worm Wheel on said drum shaft Within the transmission casing, a winch shaft journaled in said transmission casing, a worm on said winch shaft in continuous mesh with said Worm wheel, a gear wheel shiftable on said winch shaft and adapted to drive the latter when said gear is moved into mesh with one of the transmission gear wheels, a fork connected to said shiftable gear, a claw carried on said fork and adapted to be engaged by said transmission lever when moved to one position and whereby the drum gear train is placed in mesh with the transmission gear-, I

ing to drive the drum from the automobile motor, substantially as descrlbed.

, In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature.

EDMUND LOUGHBOROUGHZANE. 

